Rainbow City Chapter 17

The Adam virus began spreading in a small town in Europe. The culprit behind the virus spread? That was revealed long ago. The Adam pharmaceutical company, a major French corporation, dispersed the virus to sell the vaccine they had developed. However, even the pharmaceutical company that spread the virus couldn’t cope with the rapidly spreading infection, and their created vaccine did not work either. Astonishingly, a money-blinded company ended up destroying the world.

Those who got infected were called Adams, and the name of the vaccine created by researchers, which was also the name of the vaccine offered by the pharmaceutical company, was Eve.

The CEO of Adam pharmaceutical company hid in a bunker as soon as the incident broke out, but eventually got infected and died. Those associated with the pharmaceutical company either died from the infection or were killed. The reason for humanity being in danger seemed to be related to nuclear concerns, but the threat came unexpectedly and rapidly through unforeseen means.

All of this happened long before the birth of three soldiers riding in a Jeep, including Seokhwa. Seokhwa fell asleep on the way back and woke up to eat the remaining peanuts. Hearing the sound of munching, Kwak Soohwan also realized that Seokhwa had awakened. Outside, the land spiders had already settled, and they were about to illuminate the dark, muddy road with their headlights.

“Seems like…”

Seokhwa’s voice was heavily restrained.

“The 7th Adam seems a bit strange.”

“Adams thinks Dr.Seokhwa is pretty. Did they see Eve through you?”

Although Adam repeated the words to Kwak Soohwan, he neither saw Adam make such a mouth shape nor showed any interest in his attitude.

“They said they already took the research data related to Dr.Oh from the Royal Guards. Can I see that too?”

“Maybe?”

“Can I see it?”

Kwak Soohwan just shrugged his lips.

“I’ll try.”

If there’s anything left. Kwak Soohwan also roughly guessed why they were told to keep an eye on Seokhwa. It was probably to determine whether he could be embraced as one of them or if he would be an internal enemy. He also didn’t know why Dr.Oh clashed with the higher-ups. It wasn’t a fact that the higher-ups removed him, but just his guess.

Why? Because when he looked at the messages coming down through Mother, it was evident that the higher-ups still regarded the deceased Dr.Oh with suspicion. The directive to trace Eden Garden in the first place came from the Rainbow City leadership. The connection between Eden Garden and Dr.Oh was merely my own speculation.

Until now, there had been no orders of this kind from the higher-ups. There were mentions of rebels, but threatening situations were rare. However, with the higher-ups showing interest in both Eden Garden and Dr.Oh, it was inevitable to suspect a connection between the two.

Perhaps Seokhwa had more suspicions and reached various hypotheses than he did. In fact, any suspicion was acceptable. What Rainbow City valued most was whether they posed a threat or not; those were the only two considerations.

Seokhwa was wiping his eyes as if tired. As the car rushed down the dark road, there was a sudden impact. Seokhwa raised his head in surprise. He was wearing a seatbelt, so the impact wasn’t severe, but Yang Sanghoon, on the other hand, turned around more surprised.

“Dr. Seokhwa, are you okay?”

“Yes, but just now…”

It felt like something hit them…

“It’s not a person; it’s Adam rushing towards the light.”

Drained of energy, Adam didn’t collide head-on but hit from the side and went off. Being outside, Seokhwa realized how safe the shelter fortress was. He just thought of returning to the shelter and discussing the unusual occurrence with Dr. Kim.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

Seokhwa held the belt in his hand and looked back at Kwak Soohwan. In the front seat, occasional humming was heard, and Kwak Soohwan was turning a cube that had been placed in the back seat. It was a 4×4 cube, almost halfway completed. However, he seemed uninterested in completing it quickly and repeatedly scattered the pieces.

They would always face Adams rushing towards them like monsters, as they were now. Looking at them, they seemed like ordinary people. Seokhwa felt uneasy for some reason.

The two in the front seemed to casually chatter and laugh at Adam, and Kwak Soohwan also behaved as if it were a familiar situation. However, he felt frustrated at the fact that the extraordinary was the everyday for them.

“Jeju Island…”

“Yeah?”

Kwak Soohwan, who was turning the cube, asked.

“It was peaceful, right?”

“I haven’t been there, so I don’t know! They say Jeju Island is really nice. How is it?”

Lee Chaeyoon held onto the headrest of the front seat, turned around, and blinked her eyes.

“It’s hard to see even Adam’s traces there.”

Yang Sanghoon, also intrigued, spoke while driving.

“There are people looking for stones on the sandy beach like idiots, so it must be peaceful.”

“Let’s go together later.”

Pause. Kwak Soohwan stopped turning the cube. Lee Chaeyoon also widened her eyes, and Yang Sanghoon was equally surprised.

“Really? Dr. Seokhwa, really?”

“But I don’t know when we can go.”

Yang Sanghoon sighed, questioning if he would send them here in this situation. Kwak Soohwan’s reaction seemed as if he had swallowed Dr. Seok like a stone by mistake. It was a surprising change in the person who was close to zero in terms of sociability, suggesting a significant shift in mindset.

“It’s the first time there’s a place without Adam. It should be peaceful.”

At that remark, Kwak Soohwan stifled a laugh inwardly.

Dr. Seok might have signaled some sentiment, but if we looked pitiful to him, then we were fundamentally mistaken. Neither I nor Lee Chaeyoon nor Yang Sanghoon ever wished for peace, and we didn’t know what that peaceful feeling was. Anxiety only arose when Adam was frightening. So our minds were always sufficiently stable.

“Dr. Seok, you seem to be misunderstanding something, but even before Adam appeared, the world wasn’t all that peaceful.”

Kwak Soohwan began turning the cube again.

“Before Adam appeared, it was called the era of peace.”

“In that case, it’s simple. Shelters like the one on Jeju Island or Yeouido, where Dr. Seok was, are very safe, right? That means you can go around naked without getting hurt,”

“Yeah.”

“Shall we think about the time just before Adam appeared, known as the era of peace? At that time, there were safe countries like shelters or Jeju Island, just like now. However, not all countries were safe. There were places with civil wars, and gangs actually took over countries, right? You’re lucky, Doctor, because you were born with that smart brain that ensures safety. Similarly, those who weren’t born in countries with civil wars at that time were just lucky.”

“Oh, I feel like punching that guy every time he says something like that.”

Lee Chaeyoon pretended to swing a fist towards the back. Seokhwa pondered Kwak Soohwan’s words. It made sense. He was lucky to be born on Jeju Island. Lucky to have excellent learning abilities. But if he was born with a body that couldn’t even run a lap around the track to have that luck, should he still be grateful?

Seokhwa told himself not to think too deeply anymore.

It was time to bow down and pick up a few more peanuts. At that moment, a bright headlight beam shot in from the side.

Is there another vehicle on this road? In a brief moment, he wondered. In less than a second, a tremendous crash echoed. A massive impact, unlike before, hit the vehicle, and the Jeep spun wildly. With the tremendous centrifugal force, he couldn’t even comprehend what was happening, and his mind began to blur.

“Protect Dr. Seok first!”

Lee Chaeyoon’s voice was urgent.

It was the last memory to see the 4×4 cube, its colors jumbled like a rainbow, flying through the air.

***

Screech!

Yang Sanghoon clenched the handle, trying hard to turn the steering wheel back to its original position. However, due to the recoil, the Jeep, having collided with a utility pole, overturned sideways.

Kwak Soohwan, still belted, tried to pull the unconscious Seokhwa out first. Because the Jeep had overturned, Seokhwa’s body was leaning heavily towards him. Quickly, Kwak Soohwan took out a military knife from inside his uniform and cut the belt.

Zzip, at the same time, the upper car door was torn off. The one who seemed to have collided with the side of their car wore a white mask. He grabbed Seokhwa’s arm, swiftly lifted him, and pulled him out of the car.

There wasn’t just one guy. At least there were three, and they moved systematically. One of them was pouring gasoline into the car. The moment it caught fire, Lee Chaeyoon and Yang Sanghoon in the front seat shattered the crumbling windshield and jumped out. Kwak Soohwan reached out, climbed over the broken door that Seokhwa had escaped from, and got out of the car.

Kwak Soohwan pulled out the Colt from his holster and sniped the leg of the guy who had Seokhwa lifted. As the guy with the penetrated thigh staggered, another guy with a different mask took over Seokhwa’s body. After putting Seokhwa in the car, he left the remaining comrades behind and stepped on the gas.

When Kwak Soohwan aimed at the wheel, one of the guys attacked. A longer knife than the military-issued one grazed his jaw and stabbed in. Recoiling, the guy looked back at Yang Sanghoon as if saying, ‘What are you doing?’ Facing the guy who got shot in the thigh, my two colleagues were struggling.

I lost sight of Seokhwa right in front of my eyes. Not someone else, but me.

Dodging the guy trying to stab him in the chest with a knife, he bent his body and jabbed his fist into his ribs. The guy who had backed off with a groan tried to stab again. He seemed more adept in real combat than the soldiers in the shelter. If he could stand up against them with strength, he probably wasn’t an ordinary civilian. He had heard rumors about mutants among the rebels, but encountering one in person was a first.